SeaWaves Today in History October 17, 2008
1690 - Part of the English force besieging Quebec attempts to land on the Beauport Flats, just north of the town. The landing is hampered by foul weather and the fire of a small militia party, which force the invaders to withdraw
1814 - The crew of USRC Eagle driven ashore near Negros Head, NY in an encounter with the British brig, Dispatch dragged guns up bluff and continued battle, using log books for cartridges and returning enemy's small shot lodged in hull
British and French ships bombarded the Kinburn forts in the Crimea. The French vessels included three floating gun batteries towed into position - the first use of armored ships in action
1895 - Battleship FS Charlemagne launched
1910 - HMS Niobe arrives in Halifax to become the first cruiser of the Royal Canadian Navy
1916 - Battleship USS Arizona commissioned
1917 - Destroyer HMS Vendetta commissioned
1917 - First National Transcontinental Railway [CNR] train crosses the Quebec Bridge over the St. Lawrence; cantilever bridge collapsed twice during construction
1917 - Trawler HMC TR 1 completed Port Arthur Shipbuilding Co Ltd Port Arthur ON
1917 - Drifter HMC CD 9 completed Davie Shipbuilding & Repairing Co Ltd Lauzon PQ
1919 - Submarine USS R-13 commissioned
1919 - Minesweeper USS Redwing commissioned
1922 - LCDR Virgil C. Griffin in Vought VE-7SF makes first takeoff from US Navy aircraft carrier, USS Langley anchored in York River, Virginia
1929 - Soviet airplane, enormous for the day, lands at Sand Point NAS in Seattle
1933 - Albert Einstein arrived in the United States as a refugee from Nazi Germany
1936 - Soviet submarines SC-126 & SC-127 commissioned
1938 - Submarine ORP Sep launched
1939 - Submarine HMS Tarpon launched
1939 - Submarine HMS Tribune commissioned
1939 - AMC HMS Wolfe commissioned
1939 - U-37 sank SS Yorkshire in Convoy HG-3
1939 - U-46 sank SS City of Mandalay in Convoy HG-3
1939 - U-48 sank SS Clan Chisholm in Convoy HG-3
1939 - Shortly after midnight U-46 fired three torpedoes at a British cruiser, but all missed
1939 - Ju-88s strike at Scapa Flow and the old gunnery training ship & ex-battleship HMS Iron Duke has to be beached. 25 naval casualties. Estimated 4 enemy a/c attacking, 1 destroyed
1940 - Submarine HMS H-49 sunk by UJ116 and UJ118 off the Dutch coast
1940 - During the battle against convoy OB-228, depth charges and gunfire from a British escort damaged U-93
1940 - Corvette HMCS Trail launched North Vancouver BC
1940 - The Luftwaffe mounted fighter-bomber attacks following the heavy losses inflicted on their conventional bomber force. Targets during the night included London, Liverpool, Birmingham and Coventry. The day's events are recorded on the RAF's Battle of Britain website. Sub-Lieutenant Easton RNVR and Able Bodied Seaman Southwell attempted to defuse a mine dangling six inches above the ground, caught up in its parachute. Unfortunately it slipped and fell to the ground. Both men ran for cover but were caught in the blast. Southwell was killed, and Easton was badly wounded. Both were awarded the George Cross
1940 - Corvette HMS Amaranthus launched
1940 - Corvette USS Temptress (ex-HMS Veronica) launched
1940 - U-38 sank SS Liebe Aenos in Convoy SC-7
1940 - U-48 sank SS Languedoc & SS Scoresby in Convoy SC-7
1940 - U-93 sank SS Dokka & SS Uskbridge in Convoy OB-228
1941 - Minesweeper HMCS Three Rivers renamed HMCS Trois Rivieres
1941 - Destroyer HMS Wilton launched
1941 - Submarine HMS P-38 commissioned
1941 - Destroyer USS Kearny while part of the Escort Group 4.1.4 (detached from convoy ON-24) and escorted SC-48 SW of Iceland. At 0415 hours on 17 October 1941, the destroyer was hit by one of four torpedoes fired by U-568. The torpedo struck on starboard side, killing eleven men and wounded 22 others. The vessel steamed at 10 knots under escort by the American destroyer USS Greer to Hvalfjordur, Iceland, arriving on 19 October. After temporary repairs alongside repair ship USS Vulcan, she left Iceland on 24 December for Boston for permanent repairs, which were completed March 1942
1941 - U-637 laid down
1941 - U-83 sank SS Indra
1941 - U-97 sank SS Pass of Balmaha & SS Samos
1941 - U-432 sank SS Barfonn & SS Evros in Convoy SC-48
1941 - U-553 sank SS Bold Venture in Convoy SC-48
1941 - U-558 sank SS Erviken, SS Rym, SS WC Teagle & corvette HMS Gladiolus in Convoy SC-48
1941 - Two destroyers screening convoy HX 154, USS Charles F. Hughes & Gleaves, depth-charge suspicious contacts at 54°40'N, 33°59'W, and 54°40'N, 33°59'W
1941 - General Tojo Hideki becomes Japanese Premier as the Konoye Government resigns. The Foreign Ministry in Tokyo sends a telegram to the embassy in Washington, DC, which includes the following - "The resignation was brought about by a split within the Cabinet. It is true that one of the main items on which opinion differed was on the matter of stationing troops or evacuating them from China. However, regardless of the make-up of the new Cabinet, negotiations with the United States shall be continued along the lines already formulated. There shall be no changes in this respect"
1941 - USN orders all US merchant ships in Asiatic waters to put into friendly ports
1942 - Trawler HMS Miscou commissioned Collingwood ON
1942 - Destroyer HMS Orwell commissioned
1942 - Destroyer USS Kalk commissioned
1942 - Destroyer escorts USS Evarts & Wyfells laid down
1942 - U-504 sank SS Empire Chaucer
1942 - U-291, U-477, U-989, and U-990 laid down
1942 - U-487, U-488 launched
1942 - On the way from Gotenhafen to Kiel, U-450 collided with the German ship Peter from Hamburg
1942 - U-609 suffered great damages when the escort HMS Celandine attacked her with depth charges during the battle against convoy ON-137
1942 - A force of 18 "Val" dive bombers (Aichi D3A, Navy Type 99 Carrier Bombers) and 18 "Zeke" fighters (Mitsubishi A6M, Navy Type 0 Carrier Fighters) from the aircraft carriers HIJMS Hiyo & Junyo have been temporarily based at Buka Airdrome on Buka Island just north of Bougainville Island. This force is airborne this morning to attack shipping off Guadalcanal. At 0720 hours local, 8 Marine Fighting Squadron One Hundred Twenty One (VMF-121) F4F Wildcats intercept this force as the "Vals" attack two --USS Aaron Ward & Lardner--shelling new IJA supply dumps west of the Lunga Perimeter near Tassafaronga. The Marine Wildcats disrupt the attack and shoot down 6 "Vals" and 4 "Zekes;" one Wildcat is lost along with its pilot. The destroyers continue their bombardment and fire 1,925 5-inch at the supply dumps
1942 - Submarine USS Greenling sinks an armed transport at 37-35 N, 141-30 E
1942 - Submarine USS Trigger sinks an cargo ship at 32-21 N, 132-04 E, east of Hososhima
1942 - A convoy that will carry American and British troops to French North Africa begins assembling in the Firth of Clyde
1943 - Soviet minesweeper SKR-14 (ex RT-86 Indiga) sunk by U-636
1943 - Destroyer escort USS Damon M Cummings laid down
1943 - Frigate HMS Bickerton commissioned
1943 - Destroyer escorts USS Riddle, Wesson & Witter launched
1943 - Frigate USS Pocatello launched
1943 - Submarines USS Bream & Shark launched
1943 - Destroyer USS McDermut launched
1943 - U-540 sunk east of Cape Farewell, Greenland, in position 58.38N, 31.56W, by depth charges from 2 British Liberator aircraft (Sqn 59/D & 120/H). 55 dead (all hands lost)
1943 - U-631 sunk by in the North Atlantic SE of Cape Farewell, Greenland, in position 58.13N, 32.29W, by depth charges from the British corvette HMS Sunflower. 54 dead (all hands lost)
1943 - U-841 sunk in the North Atlantic east of Cape Farewell, Greenland, in position 59.57N, 31.06W, by depth charges from the British frigate HMS Byard. 27 dead and 27 survivors
1943 - In the evening of this day a Liberator aircraft attacked U-281 with bombs and machine guns, wounding three crewmembers
1943 - During heavy weather one lookout on U-608 broke his arm
1943 - German auxiliary cruiser, Michel, is sunk, at 0200 hours, by submarine USS Tarponat 33-42 N, 140-08 E off Japan. Michel has sunk 3 ships on this cruise (with 17 total for 2 cruises) and is the last auxiliary cruiser in operation for Germany
1943 - Submarine HIJMS I-36 launches a small "Glen" seaplane (Kugisho E14Y, Navy Type 0 Small Reconnaissance Seaplane) to determine how many aircraft carriers are in Pearl Harbor (there are none). The absence of the carriers coupled with the 5 and 6 October raids against Wake Island lead IJN intelligence officers to believe that an invasion of Wake is imminent. Because of this misinterpretation, IJN carrier aircraft that could have been used to oppose the upcoming invasion of Bougainville are withheld for more than a week
1944 - USS YMS-70 foundered off Leyte
1944 - Submarine USS Escolar probably sunk after striking a mine in the Yellow Sea
1944 - Light Minelayer USS Montgomery scrapped after being damaged by a mine off Palau
1944 - U-3525 laid down
1944 - U-2514 commissioned
1944 - Soviet patrol craft BMO-527 sunk by U-1165
1944 - Naval Forces land Army rangers on islands at the entrance to Leyte Gulf in preparation for landings
1944 - A Royal Navy Task Force led by the battlecruiser HMS Renown bombarded Nicobar. Fleet Air Arm Corsair, Hellcat and Barracuda aircraft from HMS Indomitable and HMS Victorious also conducted air strikes
1944 - Armed yacht HMCS Beaver paid off
1944 - Destroyer HMS Arrow destroyed by an accident at Taranto
1944 - Submarine USS Escolar sunk by mine in the Yellow Sea
1944 - Frigate USS Covington commissioned
1944 - Submarines USS Conger & Runner launched
1944 - British TF 63, including 2 carriers and 1 battlecruiser, strike the Nicobar Islands as a diversion for the coming US attack on Leyte. These islands will be shelled today and tomorrow with additional air strikes on the 19th. Despite the damage this action as a diversion fails
1944 - The USN's Task Group 38.4 (Rear Admiral Ralph E. Davison) attacks Japanese installations at Legaspi and Clark Field on Luzon. Scheduled air strikes by escort aircraft carriers are postponed because of typhoon weather in the vicinity of the ships. A USN force (Rear Admiral Arthur D. Struble) lands 500 army troops of the 6th Ranger Battalion on Suluan and Dinagat Islands at the entrance to Leyte Gulf to destroy Japanese installations that could provide early warning of US forces entering the gulf. Unfortunately, the Suluan Island unit transmits a warning, prompting Admiral Toyoda Soemu, Commander in Chief Combined Fleet, to order operation SHO-1 for defending the Philippines against American invasion and bringing about a decisive battle. Submarine USS Narwhal lands supplies on NW coast of Tawi Tawi Island. The IJN commander, Admiral Soemu Toyoda, orders 76 warships, including four carriers and nine battleships, to sail from Japan and Malaya for an all-out attack on the invasion force
1944 - In the Solomons, the USN's Special Air Task Force (STAG 1) (Commander Robert F. Jones), based on Stirling Island in the Treasury Islands, continues operations as Interstate TDR-1 target drones are launched against Japanese installations near East Rabaul on New Britain Island. One of the four hits the objective; a second hits a target of opportunity; a third is lost due to the failure of a tube in the drone receiver; a fourth may have been shot down (light and inaccurate antiaircraft fire is noted)
1944 - Coast Guard-manned Army vessel FS-203 was commissioned at New Orleans with LTJG F. S. Shine, USCG, as first commanding officer. She was assigned to and operated in the Southwest Pacific area including Hollandia. She was decommissioned 31 October 1945.
1945 - Minesweeper HMCS Reo II declared surplus
1945 - The beginning of the trial against Kptlt Eck his other officers from U-852 for their involvement in the Peleus sinking
1947 - Frigate ex-HMCS Orkney renamed SS Violetta. Later to Israeli Navy renamed Mivtakh.1959 to Royal Ceylon Navy (now Sri Lanka Navy) renamed HMCyS Mahasena. Broken up 1964 in Singapore
1948 - Boy Seaman A R Lowe RN won the Albert Medal for saving the life of a colleague when a liberty boat capsized during a gale
1958 - Destroyer HMCS Iroquois recommissioned after ASW modernization
1963 - USS Kitty Hawk commenced Vietnam deployment
1963 - Submarine HMS Onslaught departed Halifax following ASW training
1967 - Support ships (AOR) HMCS Protecteur & Preserver laid down Saint John NB. 24,000 tons full load, 555x76x30ft, 20kts, crew 15/212, 2-3in, intended to be fitted with the MK 29 NATO Sea Sparrow box launcher. This was also the designed fit for the DDH 280 ships. However, delays in the Sea Sparrow program lead to the interim Canadian system (which was not considered a success) on the DDH's. The AORs never were fitted with missiles. The raised deck on the AORs forward of the bridge was to include a reload capability - Original 1960 estimates that resulted in HMCS Provider for the construction of 3 replenishment ships
1967 - Submarine FS Roland Morrilot (former German U-boat U-2518) is stricken from the French Navy. She was broken up as Q426 in 1968
1967 - USS Constellation port call Subic Bay
1967 – USS Intrepid port call Subic Bay
1968 - USS Constellation port call Subic Bay
1968 - USS Hancock port call Subic Bay
1975 - USS Kitty Hawk port call Yokosuka
1977 - Air Station Sitka commissioned when the Coast Guard's aviation forces in southeast Alaska were relocated from Annette Island to Sitka
1987 - First lady Nancy Reagan underwent a modified radical mastectomy at Bethesda Naval Hospital in Maryland
1989 - An earthquake measuring 7.1 on the Richter scale struck northern California, killing 67 people and causing $7 billion worth of damage. 24 Navy and Military Sealift Command ships rendered assistance. Coast Guard units assisted state agencies in rescue and relief operations
2001 - HMC ships Preserver, Iroquois & Charlottetown depart Halifax for anti-terrorism duty in Arabian Sea
2003 - USNS Prevail reclassified IX-537
2003 - Former navy ships USS Compass Island & Canopus depart James River NDRF under tow for scrapping in the UK
2004 - The commanding officer of an F-14 Tomcat squadron assigned to the carrier John F. Kennedy in the Persian Gulf was relieved of command. Cdr Guy Maiden had led the “Jolly Rogers” since Sept 1
2005 - USNS Regulus arrived Boston for drydocking
2005 - The Coast Guard and Washington Department of Ecology are jointly coordinating the response to a fuel sheen located near Port Gamble, Wash. Coast Guard and Ecology experts are tracking the spill by helicopter to better assess the situation. Pollution investigators from Coast Guard Sector Seattle and the Department of Ecology arrived on-scene earlier this morning and began the investigation into the sheen. The 140-foot tugboat Magic sank near the entrance to Port Gamble and is the apparent source of the spill. Oil is no longer is flowing from the vessel. The Coast Guard has opened the Oil Spill Liability Trust Fund to enable clean-up efforts to begin without delay. Contractors are placing boom at pre-identified sensitive areas along northern Hood Canal. Oil has come ashore along the Port Gamble town waterfront and Ecology shoreline assessment teams are surveying the impacts. Teams also are following up on reports of shoreline affected on the east side of the harbor. The sheen of oil that spread into Hood Canal is unrecoverable and is expected to evaporate. Some oil floating near the town may be recoverable and local crews have deployed boom in that area. An estimate of the amount of oil spilled has not been completed
2005 - A Coast Guard HH-60 Jayhawk helicopter and crew are en route to rendezvous with the fishing vessel Excellence to medevac a critically injured female crewmember. The Coast Guard received a medevac request from the Excellence at 2200 on the 16th. The vessel was 265 miles from St. Paul Island at the time. They changed course toward St. Paul to meet the rescue helicopter crew. A 30 year-old female crewmember sustained severe injuries to her lower legs from machinery on board. The medical staff on the vessel are attending to her. The patient is stable, conscious and prepped for hoist from the vessel. The Excellence is currently about 160 miles from St. Paul. The helicopter landed in St. Paul to re-fuel. They departed St. Paul to conduct the medevac at about 1100. Weather conditions are reported as 35 - 40 knot winds with 18 - 20 foot seas. A Coast Guard C-130 and crew from Kodiak launched to fly cover for the helicopter and serve as a communications platform. The winds in St. Paul prevent the C-130 from landing. They will follow the helicopter to St. George Island after the hoist is completed and will transport the patient to Anchorage. A Coast Guard medical technician from Kodiak is on the C-130 and will attend to the patient during the flight to Anchorage. The fishing vessel Excellence is a 353-foot fish processing vessel participating in the Aleutian Islands Pollock Fishery. The vessel's listed homeport is Anchorage and is owned by Alaska J/V Seafoods. The HH-60 helicopter and crew from Air Station Kodiak were prestaged in Cold Bay. Due to the increased vessel activity and winter weather conditions in October the Coast Guard prestages a helicopter and crew in Cold Bay to shorten response times
2005 - A North Korean fishing boat sailed back to its territorial waters, hours after accidentally violating the disputed western sea border with the South, the Joint Chiefs of Staff said. The 1-ton motorless wooden ship was found drifting at 1010 due to tidal changes, after sailing 4.2 kilometers past the maritime border, the JCS said in a statement. Two men were aboard the boat, it added. The South Korean Navy let the Northern boat sail back to its territorial waters at 1350 as its crews wished, the statement said
2005 - The National Sea Rescue Institute (NSRI) of South Africa has recovered the body of a scuba diver who went missing near Cape Recife on the 15th. The victim was a 29-year-old male who was scuba diving with friends at the Willows. Meanwhile, police divers and the NSRI are continuing to search for a scuba diver who disappeared last week. Yasser Kamaldien, 25, of Strand, was diving with several other divers off Castle Rock near Simon's Town. Searchers found bags of abalone in the area and police have speculated the group may have been poaching
2005 - Russian and Norwegian diplomats are discussing the circumstances surrounding the detention of a Russian trawler in the Barents Sea, the Russian Embassy in Oslo said. The Elektron fishing boat was detained in the fisheries protection zone of Spitsbergen, which Moscow does not recognize. The Norwegian side has accused the fishing crew of "documentation violations and throwing away their catch"
2005 - Oceaneering International, Inc. announced it has obtained the largest ROV contract in Oceaneering's history. The expected contract base revenue to be received by Oceaneering is approximately $85 million over an initial three-year term. During this time Oceaneering will provide 11 work class ROVs, 11 observation class ROVs, and other associated services.
The contract was awarded by Statoil ASA in the form of a Frame Agreement to replace prior agreements between Oceaneering and Statoil for the use of these ROVs. Terms of the contract contain higher dayrates than previously in effect and a provision for future dayrate escalations. The contract has three consecutive options for two-year extensions. The scope of work in the Frame Agreement includes requirements that Oceaneering supply engineering services for planning offshore projects and the development and manufacture of specialized subsea equipment, on a requested basis. Fulfillment of these requests will result in additional revenues to Oceaneering
2006 - USCG Commandant Admiral Thad W. Allen delivers keynote remarks at the 16th Annual Clean Gulf Conference and Exhibition in New Orleans
2006 - A tentative settlement reached between the federal government and more than 2,000 homeowners in Virginia Beach and Chesapeake who live near NAS Oceana and its auxiliary landing field. The homeowners claimed noise from Navy jets has devalued their homes
2006 - Coast Guard temporarily closed the Tacoma Narrows to maritime traffic today in response to an equipment failure on one of the replacement high tension cables being installed over the Tacoma Narrows. The failure occurred at approximately 1500 and resulted in the unplanned lowering of the cable into the waterway for removal posing a hazard to vessel traffic
2006 - Six people have been killed and nine wounded in an explosion on a Pemex-owned product tanker, Quetzalcoatl, in the Mexican port of Coatzacoalcos. Two men are missing. They were working close to the vessel when the explosion occurred at 1319 and it is feared they have also been killed. The 44,650 dwt product tanker was alongside at the Pajaritos oil complex in Coatzacoalcos when the explosion occurred. Pemex said the terminal, which produced 529,000 tonnes of petrochemicals in 2005, has not been affected by the explosion. The accident has been blamed on welding work being carried out on the Mexico-flagged ship at the time
2006 - Fawley refinery tanker terminal in the UK resumed after a propane leak from a gas carrier temporarily closed it. ExxonMobil said the leak was on ICSM’s liquid petroleum gas tanker Ennerdale(1997-built, 4,285 dwt) as it was loading at Fawley in Southampton Water
2007 - USCG Commandant Admiral Thad W. Allen will deliver remarks on naval maritime strategy at the opening of the 18th International Seapower Symposium US Naval War College
2007 - USCG Admiral Joel Whitehead will testify before the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, Subcommittee on Coast Guard and Maritime Transportation on mariner education and workforce
2007 - Under new maritime plan, more aid will be provided overseas to help curb terrorism. To combat global terrorism, Navy ships will deploy on more missions to bring medical help and construction teams to regions considered possible flash points for anti-American extremism, the vice chief of naval operations said
2007 - Fiji navy commander Francis Kean has pleaded guilty to manslaughter after State prosecutors today reduced his charge from murder. Until this morning, Kean was charged with the murder of 32-year-old salesman, John Whippy, on December 31 last year following a wedding reception at the Suva Yacht Club
2007 - The Army, Navy and Air Force unwittingly advertised for recruits on a website for gays, who are barred from military service if they are open about their sexual orientation
2007 - Coast Guard and Navy officials began searching for two missing Seabees this afternoon. A crew of four left San Nicholas Island just south of Santa Cruz, at 8am Wednesday morning to go kayaking but two of them haven't returned
2007 - The Office of the Auditor General in Norway believes the Norwegian Navy might not be able to train enough sailors for its new prestigious frigates. The auditors say bad planning and budget mismanagement in the Navy might threaten the efficient service of the vessels
2007 - Fugitive Al-Qaeda suspect Jamal al-Badawi, who was convicted for the bombing of the USS Cole in Yemen that killed 17 American sailors, has surrendered to authorities
Copyright 2008 Shirlaw News Group ISSN 1710-6966
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